Luke 12:47-48, The Punishment Fits the Crime

That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows.

//Ignoring for now the Catholic doctrine of purgatory, traditional Christian teaching insists that all men who reject Jesus will suffer identically; that is, they will endure eternal torture together in the same hell. Mass murderers suffer the same torment as unbelievers. Have you ever wondered how a merciful God could possibly judge this way?

Perhaps Hell isn’t eternal; maybe the punishment fits the crime. Here are some verses that may give you pause:

But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. –Matthew 11:22

But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” –Mark 14:21

They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.” – Luke 20:47, see also Mark 12:40

God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” –Romans 2:6, see also Psalms 62:12 and Proverbs 24:12

How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? –Hebrews 10:29